HELP THE BREFO FAMILY RETURN TO THE U.S.

To Whom this May Concern,

In September, the final stage of our Green Card process was denied due to an administrative error by USCIS and our Congress office. As you can imagine, this has caused significant hardship for our family, especially our three U.S. Citizen children.

U.K. Citizens and U.S. Citizen Children

My wife, Elena, and I hail from London, England.

I was born in Ghana and moved to the UK as a child, while Elena was born in London to Greek-Cypriot parents.

We relocated to Los Angeles in 2010 so I could pursue my Master’s of Divinity Degree at a seminary in Los Angeles.

Fourteen years on, we are blessed with three children who are U.S. citizens and the U.S. has become our home.

Our three U.S. citizen children were all born and raised in Southern California. Jesse (13), Keziah (10) and Eden (8).

We have the joy of living in La Jolla and our children are thriving in their schools.

Our middle daughter, Keziah, recently came runners-up for San Diego's "Mayor for a Day" competition. As a result, she got the opportunity to visit City Hall and meet Mayor Todd Gloria. She dreams of becoming Mayor herself one day.

I am the founding and lead Pastor of King’s Cross Church located in Pacific Beach/La Jolla area, which hosts over 300 attendees each Sunday, including many active military families.

As a church, we’re active in our San Diego community, contributing through various service initiatives like feeding the homeless, hosting an annual Easter Carnival at Kate Sessions Park which attracts over 600 families from the community.

I also serve as secretary for the La Jolla Town Council.

Green Card Issues

Ever since we moved to the U.S., Elena and I have always complied with U.S. immigration laws.

For the last few years, we’ve been working with our attorney to obtain our Green Cards. Unfortunately, due to an administrative error by USCIS and our Congress office, the final stage of our application was denied.

Although this denial was based on this administrative oversight, the reality is that it has left us in an incredibly challenging position, financially and emotionally.

As a result, Our Employment Authorization Documents and Travel Parole were revoked and we had to leave the United States in March to avoid accruing unlawful presence.

We have done everything we can to resolve the issue with our attorney and and all of our efforts have been unsuccessful. They’ve reached the limit of what they can do and have informed us that there is nothing more they can do to get our denial revoked.

We’re currently back home in England waiting for a Green Card interview at the US Embassy in London and hopefully an approval. Our U.S. Citizen children have been continuing their schooling remotely. It’s been a challenging season, and we’re praying and hoping we get an interview soon and an approved Green Card.

Our story was covered by the San Diego Tribune newspaper and you can read it HERE.

How You Can Help

The stress and emotional toll this has taken on our entire family has been overwhelming. Our children cry daily and pray daily for this situation to be resolved, as they are deeply anxious about the instability in their lives.

Here's how you can help right now:

PRAYER: Please pray for our family—for swift action and resolution with our case, and for wisdom for those advocating on our behalf. Pray that we get an interview soon and ultimately an approved Green Card.
CONNECTIONS: We’re grateful for the help Scott Peters’ office has been providing. If you have connections with other government leaders who might offer additional support, please contact us.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Unexpected costs for additional filing and legal fees have stretched our finances. If you’d like to contribute, donations can be made through our church, and they’ll be tax-deductible. You can donate here: https://ppay.co/MG9f5BPlGLo. Make sure to select ‘Brefo Visa Support.‘

Thank you for standing with us in this challenging time.

You can send us an email message HERE.

-Obed and Elena Brefo